


In the Eye of the Beholder

by Angylsmuse, Orithain



Series: Fourth Pass [17]
Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Alternate Fourth Pass, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:54:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9322463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angylsmuse/pseuds/Angylsmuse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain
Summary: A new hold steward arrives at Decaedus, and he and the lord holder's twin brother make a lasting first impression on each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted September 2002.

“Find his brother. My first day on the job at a new hold as the hold steward and already I’m relegated to the position of glorified babysitter,” Arion muttered as he strode through the corridors of Decaedus Hold looking for the lord holder’s twin brother. _How hard could it be to find an identical twin?_ he thought to himself.

~*~*~

A candlemark later, Hold Steward Arion was hot, tired and in an extremely foul mood. He’d gone over the entire hold with a fine-tooth comb and, finding nothing, talked to the stable master, took a runner and went looking in all of the artist’s favorite spots. “Damn good thing there’s no Threadfall scheduled till later today or the little scatterbrain would be ash by now!” Arion groused as he urged his mount over a hill to a little pond a goodly distance away from the hold.

~*~*~

Lord Daris laid down his coal and scrutinized the sketch he’d been working on most of the afternoon, then nodded sharply. The mare and her foal were acceptable. He thought he might keep this one, perhaps even put it up in his rooms or give it to Darev. He stood up and stretched, only then noticing how stiff and sore he was from sitting motionless for candlemarks. A swim was what he needed, he decided.

Moments later, Ris’ clothes were lying in a crumpled heap on the ground and the naked blond was standing thigh deep in the water of the lake, bent at the waist and splashing himself with the cold water before going any deeper.

The splashing noise alerted Arion to the fact that there was someone over the ridge. Urging his mount forward, the steward came over the rise in time to see a blond man dive beneath the water. Well fuck!

Watching the other man break the surface, Arion managed to put on his best ‘you really don’t wanna piss me off any more than I already am’ look and deliberately goaded the runner into the pond and up behind the other man.

“Lord Daris, do you have any idea just how many people are looking for you right now?”

Ris pushed his wet hair back out of his face, and eyes the same blue as the noon sky focused on the newcomer. “Probably no one. You’ve found me, so you’re not looking any more, and Dar wouldn’t ask more than one person to find me.” He tilted his head to one side, inspecting the other man closely.

“You have an interesting face. I want to draw you.” Heedless of his nudity, he waded out of the water, hastily blotted his hands and arms dry with his discarded shirt, and picked up the sketchpad again.

“Lord Daris,” Arion nearly bellowed, he was so exasperated by the situation, “I am the _hold steward_ not a finder of missing people. I have a job to do. If you wouldn’t mind getting dressed and getting that pretty little ass of yours back to the hold, I’d like to actually be able to _start_ my job before the sun goes down today.”

Ris blinked in surprise. “I’m not ready to go. I still want to sketch the runners some more. But you can go. I can draw you another time if you’re the steward. You’ll be around.” He turned away, apparently dismissing the other man completely from his mind, and settled atop the pile of his clothing to begin to sketch again.

Arion jumped down off the runner and stalked over to the other man. “I didn’t _ask_ you if you wanted to go back, _Lord_ Daris. I’m telling you, you’re going back. Your brother wants to see you, and I want to get some work done; now move your ass, get dressed, pack your gear, and get on that damned runner!”

“No.” Daris was a little surprised by the man’s persistence, but it was no more annoying than some of the insects that buzzed around him when he was sketching. He could ignore him just as easily.

Arion growled menacingly. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” That said, the steward stalked over to the other man, hauled him to his feet and slung him over his shoulder in one move, and stalked back towards the runner.

“Lord Holder Darev and I are gonna have serious words about just what my job entails. It does not entail,” Arion bumped the cursing and writhing man on his shoulder to quiet him down, “baby sitting scatterbrained, if gorgeous, twin brothers!”

“Put me down, you sharding idiot!” Daris roared, then reached over and grabbed hold of the other man’s ear, twisting hard till he could squirm away from the now howling steward. He immediately leaped back out of reach, glaring. “What in the name of the first egg did you think you were doing? Get away from me, you crackshell!”

“Crackshell? Crackshell?! Oh that’s a fine insult coming from some scatterbrained, spoiled nitwit relation of the lord holder. Did you even bother to find out if Thread was falling today? Did you let anyone know you were leaving? Did you even bother to consider that people might have better things to do than to chase after your sorry ass? NO!” Arion bellowed.

“All you concerned yourself with was what _you_ want!” Spinning around, Arion stalked back to his runner, rubbing his ear. “Fine. Get yourself ashed, it’s not like I’m gonna be around to care. This was a mistake, a _huge_ sharding mistake! I wonder if they filled my old position yet or if I can still go back home? Doesn’t matter, anywhere is better than this nuthouse of a hold!!! Crazy lord holders with deranged brothers HA! I’m outta here!!”

“Oh, by the way, just for your edification, _my lord_ Daris, Threadfall is supposed to start at sunfall, which is approximately four candlemarks away. Do try to remember that if you don’t wanna end up fertilizer!”

Ris growled. “I suggest you ask yourself what you did to either piss Dar off or make him think he needed to test you!” he grated out. “He knows exactly where I am since I talked to him before coming out here. There are caves just over there that I could take shelter in if I did get caught out here. And finally, my flit would have warned me in plenty of time before Threadfall!” He stabbed a finger through the air in the direction of a green flit curled up next to his supplies, who had been asleep but who was now watching them with eyes whirling with alarm.

“Sure. Fine. Whatever!” Arion replied, staring daggers at the younger man, a man he would have pounced under different circumstances. Shaking his head and still rubbing his abused ear, he turned back towards his runner, muttering, “I don’t need this crap. The people in this hold are crazy. _All_ of em. I’m handing in my resignation and going to the Weyr, or maybe I’ll join a caravan. Anything is better than this... this.... asylum for the insane!

“Draw me - HA! Next thing he’d be wanting to show me his etchings. Bet they would have been attractive etchings but... he’s totally, completely nuts! Just like his brother!” the older man continued to grouse as he mounted his runner without a single look back. “Maybe _I_ should ride into the Thread... would be less painful than working for these two sharding idiots!”

~*~*~

Arion stalked into the Lord Holder’s office, his dudgeon high. “Your brother is a nitwit crackshell who’s currently camped out by a lake drawing stick figures on a piece of parchment. He tried to rip off my ear, I’ll have you know, and then he called me, _me_ , the crackshell!” Arion ranted, not caring what impression he gave. He was furious, frustrated, in pain and definitely not happy. And worst of all he felt this overwhelming urge to apologize for _his_ behavior when he hadn’t done anything wrong and was trying to... protect the ninny with the coal!

“Oh, and I quit!” That said, the steward promptly slammed the door behind him and headed back to his rooms as fast as he could to pack and get out of this crazy place.

“Oops,” Darev murmured, staring at the closed door. It looked like Ris had made quite an impression on the new steward. He’d better make sure Arion stuck around long enough for something to come of it.

He got up and followed the other man to his rooms, amused by the almost deranged mutterings. “You can’t leave now,” he pointed out reasonably, stepping inside Arion’s rooms and leaning against the wall as he watched the steward stomp around. “Thread’s about to Fall.

“Besides,” he admitted, “I’m not going to let you break our agreement. You’re the first person who’s ever gotten much of reaction out of Daris beyond a blank stare and totally ignoring them. Aside from me, of course.” Dar shrugged. “Ris doesn’t really pay much attention to people. It was beginning to worry me.”

“And I should care?” Arion snarked than sank to his bed, thoroughly morose. “I’m sorry, I’m not normally like this; it’s just that your brother, _your brother_ ” he all but snarled. “He’s enough to drive a _dragon_ insane! It’s like he’s not even there or he’s in his own world, and it’s only when you get in his face that he realizes, and then he tries to rip your ear off!”

“I did not!” Daris himself replied indignantly from the open doorway, glaring at the steward and totally ignoring his twin for a change. “I _told_ you I didn’t need ‘rescuing’; I _asked_ you to put me down; you _ignored_ me! I _twisted_ your ear a _little_ because it was the only way to make you let go of me!” By now he was directly in front of Arion, yelling into his face. “Someone who looks like you doesn’t need to kidnap a man, so what in the name of the first egg is your problem?!”

Grinning, Darev silently slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. It looked like these two could handle things on their own from here.

“What the shard do you mean someone who looks like me?” Arion shouted back, ignoring the closing of the door to deal with the more immediate problem of an insane artisan. “What difference does it make what I look like?” he continued at a bellow.

“You have got to be the most stubborn, willful, blind, obstinate, _clueless_ man on the face of Pern,” Arion continued to snarl. “Kidnap you? HAH! I’ve _never_ resorted to kidnapping and you... you... ARGH!” Throwing his hands up in the air, the steward glared at the other man for long seconds until he could take it no longer and grabbed Daris by the scruff of the neck, pulling him in for a rough kiss before releasing him with an aghast expression on his face. “FUCK! Where did that come from?” he groaned, flopping back on the bed.

Wide-eyed, Ris stared at the steward, a little stunned by that reaction. He licked his lips, tasting the other man, and his whole focus narrowed to the gorgeous steward. And Arion _was_ sprawled ever so enticingly across the bed, after all. How could he be expected to resist that?

“Same place this did.” That whispered comment was all the warning Arion got before Daris was stretched out on top of him, kissing him back.

Arion’s arms automatically came up around Daris, trapping the younger man against him, and he groaned as once more the artisan’s flavor burst on his tongue, making him harden even more. There was no way for Arion to deny the bulge in his pants when it was pressing so firmly against the younger man.

All the steward could do moan and lie back as the younger man writhed on top of him like a feline in heat. Not that he minded - well, not that his body minded, his rational mind had shut down at the first taste of Daris’ mouth.

Ris moaned happily into Arion’s mouth as he pressed closer to the hardness digging into his belly and kissed the new steward with every bit of his hunger. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted someone this much, and the clothes between them were a distraction.

Muttering frustrated oaths, he half sat up to yank his shirt off and tear at the fastenings of his pants, then turned his attention to Arion’s clothes, clearly planning to rip the offending garments from his body.

“Oh no!” Arion muttered, trying to squirm out from under the less than stable man above him. “The clothes stay in one piece! You are _not_ shredding them. Got it? If you feel the urge, you can _take_ them off, but that’s all.”

Daris had to close his eyes to block the sight of Arion’s delectable body and take a few deep breaths before he trusted himself enough to reach for the other man’s clothing again. He unfastened the buttons with exaggerated care, then had to drop down again to fasten a hungry mouth over one tempting nipple.

“Shards!” Arion gasped, his eyes falling closed as the younger man nursed on him. His fists opened and closed helplessly on the sheets as he tried desperately to rein in his libido, which was spiraling out of control. Any more and he’d come before he’d even made it inside the younger man, and then where would either of them be?

Whimpering softly, hungrily, Ris squirmed to free himself of his boots and pants, then pressed his naked body against Arion’s half-clothed one. His mouth went back and forth between the two upstanding nipples, and his leaking cock left a sticky trail of moisture on the steward’s pants. “Fly me,” he begged, writhing lewdly, his body hungry for the other man.

Arion grinned, tucking his hands behind his head. “You’re on top, maybe you should fly me,” the older man teased, not wanting to let the bossy brat get the better of him. “Better yet, ride me.”

Daris really wanted to be taken, to feel Arion possess him, but he’d take the older man any way he could get him. Biting his lip, he tugged at the steward’s pants, being careful not to tear them. Finally, they were both naked, and unable to wait any longer, Ris shifted over him, rising up onto his knees and reaching back to steady the other man’s cock so that he could sink down onto it.

Grinning at the look of disappointment on the younger man’s face, Arion had to bite back a snicker. Daris looked like someone had just stolen his candystick and was trying hard not to let his lower lip quiver.

Shaking his head, the older man sighed heavily. “Well, I suppose if I _have_ to,” he bemoaned playfully as he rolled them both over in one smooth move, “I guess I’ll just _have_ to fuck you instead since you’re pouting. What are you gonna do when I want to be flown, I wonder? Will you even know how to?” the older man mused as he tossed Daris’ legs up over his shoulders and slid into the younger man after quickly slicking his cock up with oil.

A long, harsh groan of pleasure tore out of the lord as he felt himself filled and stretched by the other man. It took a moment before he could manage to gasp out, “Know what to do, just usually like this way better.” He whined and bit his lip again when Arion started to move, the head his cock rubbing over Daris’ prostate. “Oh jays, _so_ good.”

“So easy, I haven’t even started yet, and already you’re complimenting me. It’s gonna go straight to my head,” Arion panted as he began to slide in and out of the tight channel surrounding him. Slowly he picked up speed until he was slamming in and out of the artisan, one hand resting on Daris’ hip while the other was wrapped around his cock, stroking the younger man’s erection.

“It’s g-going straight to _mine_ ,” Ris gasped, one hand curling over Arion’s where it touched him, demonstrating exactly which head he meant. He felt so open and vulnerable, spread out for the steward’s pleasure, and he was loving every moment of it. For once he wasn’t even thinking about what he’d like to paint next, every bit of his attention instead focused on Arion.

Lowering his head to kiss the younger man, Arion continued to power into the sweet body beneath his, hoping to make Daris come before he did, wanting it to be good for the younger man. Taking the artisan’s mouth delicately, Arion continued to stroke and fuck and drive the younger man senseless with need.

Pinned beneath Arion and happy to have it so, Ris could only mewl his pleasure as deep inside him, he could feel it coiling tighter and tighter with every thrust and stroke, and then he screamed Arion’s name as it burst through him, ecstasy radiating out through his entire body and making him clamp down around the thick shaft inside him.

Groaning as he felt the younger man come apart beneath him, Arion bit down on his lower lip to stave off his orgasm just a little longer, wanting to make sure that the lord was well and truly satisfied. Over and over he thrust, until Daris’ mindless wails of bliss finally made him come hard and deep, flooding the younger man’s inner passage with spurts of his seed even as he milked the last droplets from Daris’ own softening cock. “Jays,” he moaned, collapsing on top of the younger man, spent, “so good.”

Humming faintly with contentment, not even minding the awkward position as he was folded nearly double by his legs over Arion’s shoulders and the other man’s weight on top of him, Daris smiled the happy, cocky grin more often seen on his twin’s face. “Wonderful,” he agreed, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

Letting Daris’ legs slide down to a more comfortable position, Arion rolled to the side of the younger man, his cock slipping out of the artisan’s body as he closed his eyes when reality rushed in. He’d just fucked the lord holder’s brother. He was the lord holder’s steward, and he just fucked the lord holder’s brother. Great. Wonderful. He was so screwed. But, damn, it had been good.

Of course now he didn’t know how he was supposed to act or what he was supposed to say. Electing not to say anything, Arion simply wrapped an arm around Daris’ shoulders and pulled him in close. The next move would have to be Lord Daris’.

Rolling with Arion’s tug, Daris curled himself into the other man’s body, snuggling as close as he could get. He pillowed his head on Arion’s shoulder, one arm flung possessively over the steward’s chest, and he smiled. “Do you think we could pretend none of that,” he waved a hand vaguely, meaning their initial meeting, “ever happened and we just met when I can to your room?”

He raised his head, blue eyes meeting Arion’s. “This is much nicer.”

“You think so, do you?” Arion smiled wanly. “And why would the lord holder’s brother be coming to a steward’s room?” the older man queried softly. “I rather think our meeting was memorable. It’s not every day someone has me wanting to quit a new job I just got before the day is even out,” the older man continued with a slight chuckle.

Color surged in Daris’ cheeks, and he dropped his head back to Arion’s shoulder so he wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. “I, uh, well...” Deciding to ignore the latter comment, he chose to respond to the first. “I don’t know about the lord holder’s brother and the steward, but Daris would be visiting Arion because he’s an amazing lover and he wants to get to know him better... and share more flights.”

Arion breathed a minute sigh of relief. That was what he’d been waiting to hear. “Well, I have a feeling that that could be arranged. Especially considering I seemed to like it too - after I got over wanting to strangle you, little brat that you are!”

Ris grumbled into the chest pillowing his cheek. “I’m not a brat. You were being domineering.” Thinking of Arion being dominant now made Daris quiver, and he filed that idea away for later exploration. He squirmed slightly, feeling the older man’s seed slowly seeping out him, and he smiled. “Can still feel you inside me.”

“You were a brat; I was trying to follow my lord holder’s orders, and you were being difficult - that makes you a brat. And I hate to tell you this but I _am_ domineering. It’s part of the job. The only person I answer to is your brother; everyone else answers to me, so I need to be in charge. Except when I let someone fly me. That’s one of the few times I’m not.

“And considering I was only just in you, I should hope you do!”

Daris was pretty sure that even when Arion was _letting_ someone fly him, he was still topping from the bottom, but he really didn’t have a problem with that... although out of bed... He grinned. “Well, we’ll be really good in bed.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be a handful?” Arion sighed, shaking his head morosely. “I’m doomed to be one of those people who have a brat for a mate.”

“Mate?” Daris blinked in surprise, then a slow smile spread on his face. “I like the sound of that.”

Arion’s hand slowed to a halt. Looking down at the other man, suddenly serious, the steward continued. “I want to - eventually - don’t get me wrong. But I also want to take this slow. Get to know you. I... I want to know in my heart that this is what we both want; that way no one gets hurt, okay?”

Suddenly understanding how a dragon felt when it Impressed, Daris only shrugged. “Whenever you’re ready, Ri. I think I knew I wanted you the first moment I saw you... despite how you acted.”

“How I acted?” Arion hooted in disbelief. “Brat!” And with that the older man launched into a full-scale tickle attack, torturing the younger man for his outrageous statement.

Howling with mirth, Ris twisted and squirmed to get away, finally wrapping himself around the other man so tightly that he couldn’t tickle him any more.

The sound of a throat being cleared drew their eyes to the doorway and the smirking lord holder leaning against the lintel. “Should I presume that you’ll be staying after all, Arion?”

“Well, that depends - do I get to discipline your brother too if he does something reckless and/or foolish?” Arion grinned, looking down at the blushing, panting man in his arms.

“That’s entirely between the two of you,” Darev replied with a faint laugh, grinning at his flustered twin before disappearing again.

“I don’t believe you asked him that!” Ris buried his face in the pillows. He’d shared lovers with his twin in the past, but this was... different.

“Well, considering he’s eventually going to be my brother-in-law,” Arion grinned, “I have a feeling that this is going to be a fairly commonplace occurrence. After all, who else is going to answer all those embarrassing questions I’m gonna be asking on a regular basis?”

“What embarrassing questions?” Daris demanded in a suspicious tone, head shooting up to turn a narrow gaze on his lover.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” Arion grinned.


End file.
